LSD ‘may aid alcoholism treatment’

The use of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), coupled with relapse prevention treatments, could help alcoholics steer clear of the bottle, research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology suggests.

Teri Krebs and Pal-Orjan Johansen, who were performing research fellowships at Harvard Medical School in the US, examined a number of previous studies, mostly from the 1960s and 1970s, and found that a number of clinics used LSD to treat alcoholism with some success.

They said they found evidence for a clear and consistent beneficial effect of a low dose of LSD for treating alcohol dependency.

They examined 536 participants, across six medical trials, and found that 59% of LSD patients had improved compared to 38% of control patients.